Copy of Science Fair Project 2013

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Transcript of Copy of Science Fair Project 2013

0 + - = 9 8 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 c The control variable is the reaction timerecorded with no distraction from a cellphone. Hypothesis If someone is texting while trying to perform another task it will cause a greater reaction time than talking on a cell phone, because it distracts using manual, visual, and cognitive distraction, whereas talking on the phone only requires listening and the cognitive distraction. Evaluation of Data My data showed that the biggest distraction can really depend on the person being tested. However texting was the worst distraction for most people. Some people did improve with the distraction, so I am concluding that it was because they had to get used to the experiment. Another problem was human error. sometimes the stick wouldn't be perfectly at zero when I dropped it, or the stick would be swinging. Texting vs. Talking Materials Meter StickNotebook for recording data.20 Test Subjects with cell phones.Calculator The independent variable is the distraction presented by the cell phone during the experiment. Question: Will Texting or Talking on the Phone affect reaction time more? The dependent variable in this experiment is the amount of time it takes the test subject to react to the falling ruler, and catch it. The constants are the ruler and the rate that it falls. Conclusion From my experiment I can conclude that for the majority of people texting causes a greater distraction and reaction time, than talking on the phone. It does support my hypothesis that texting will cause a greater reaction time. Sixteen out of the twenty people that I tested did result in having a greater reaction time while texting than talking. Recommendations and Practical Application some recommendations I have for future experiments is to have someone watch the experiment from eye-level to make sure that they test subject's fingers are even with the 0cm line on the meter stick. Also, another thing would be to have them make sure they understood the experiment better before beginning.

This experiment can help us understand the dangers of driving while texting or talking on the phone. Another application would be understanding the distraction while doing almost anything else such as operating machinery, talking to other people, and much more. This helps people understand the distraction phones cause, and what it can do to how fast we react to something. 1. Place your thumb and index finger at the top of the meter stick.2. Ask the test subject to their two fingers on either side of the meter stick at the 0 cm mark. When you drop the stick, the test subject will attempt to catch it by closing their fingers.3. Test the baseline reaction first by dropping the stick and recording the distance (in cm) that the stick falls before the test subject catches it.4. Perform 5 trials and find the average score.5. Repeat. This time ask the test subject to text someone on their cell phone while you do the experiment. 6. Perform 5 trials and find the average score.7. Repeat the test. Ask the test subject to call someone on the phone while doing the experiment.8. Do 5 trials and find the average score.9. Repeat steps 1-8 for all test subjects.10. Evaluate results and calculate each participant's average reaction time for each experiment. Use the formula d=0.5at^2 when t=time, d=distance traveled by meter stick in meters, and a=acceleration of gravity constant 9.8 meters per second squared.11. Evaluate final results. Procedure